eMarketer Releases New Estimates for Time Spent with Media in India, Japan and South Korea

Adults in South Korea will spend more time with digital media than those in India and Japan

In 2017, daily time spent with digital media among adults will top 3 hours in Japan (3 hours 5 minutes) and South Korea (3 hours 26 minutes). Those in India will average less than half that time (1 hour 18 minutes), with digital accounting for just under one-third of total daily time spent with media.

In Japan and South Korea, increased use of mobile devices—specifically smartphones—is driving time spent with digital media. In both countries, mobile already accounts for more than half of time spent with digital media by adults. Among mobile users in Japan, the most popular apps include time-intensive activities like games, messaging, and video. In South Korea, these apps are used widely and more frequently, due to the country’s highly developed mobile broadband network.

Comparatively, India’s internet infrastructure is still lacking. Adults’ average time spent per day with digital media will grow 14.4% this year, with much of that spurred by rural populations gaining internet access for the first time. With only one-third of the population regularly accessing the internet, individuals in India rely mostly on traditional media sources for news and entertainment.

In India, TV will account for 55.3%, or 2 hours 11 minutes, of daily time spent with all major media—digital or otherwise. Digital video from over-the-top (OTT) platforms has yet to establish a presence in the country. According to television industry measurement group Broadcast Audience Research Council India (BARC India), obstacles include expensive data, inconsistent bandwidth and a lack of content to reach speakers of the many languages and dialects in India. In 2017, daily TV time is expected to grow, especially in rural areas, on the strength of news coverage and sports broadcasts of cricket and soccer.

Adults in Japan will spend more time per day with TV than any other media this year as well, at 3 hours 22 minutes. Japan’s aging population has yet to show signs of slowing its TV consumption, and with the country’s 2018 elections coming up, viewing time is not expected to drastically change.

In South Korea, average daily time spent with TV will reach 3 hours 7 minutes in 2017. Though time spent with digital media surpassed TV in 2015, the popularity of the 2016 Olympics and TV dramas have sustained viewership. Viewing time is projected to increase by 2 minutes in 2018, as the country hosts the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, and individuals tune in to the World Cup soccer tournament.

—Corey McNair

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